After another seemingly brazen abuse of policing power for white supremacist ends, the Philadelphia Police Department is reportedly launching an Internal Affairs investigation into scenes yesterday in which armed white vigilante groups were allowed to roam through the Fishtown neighborhood, injuring at least two people, and gathered near the department's 26th District headquarters even as Black Americans were being attacked by city police with tear gas and other violence.
The Philadelphia Tribune reports officers were seen on video "supporting the [armed white] vigilantes, giving them high-fives and taking photos with them."
Why a white vigilante group was greeted with enthusiasm by local police officers is no mystery, though an "internal" investigation of the incident is almost assured to claim that the cause could not be found. The cause is open white supremacy by officers inside the department, including membership in neo-Nazi groups:
That officer, by the way, was rehired after a previous "Internal Affairs" investigation cleared him, finding that prominent display of Nazi-supporting tattoos was determined to not violate Philadelphia Police Department policy.